Strange Places
by Lou P.F
Summary: (You should probably read Trust Me before your read this.) Oh has his first Christmas with Tip- his first Christmas in general. Listen to Kyle talk about how he walked in on Ani -yep. You heard me. And, in addition, there's a surprise for Tip at the end of the night! Rated T for implied *you know what*. AU, in case you didn't understand. One-shot.


**Strange Places  
** **Trust Me – Christmas Special, one-shot**

Oh woke with a start as his soulmate very abruptly sat up. "Oh! Wake up, it's Christmas!" she exclaimed gleefully, jumping out of the bed. He blinked confused a few times, before a wide smile broke loose across his features. _Christmas. His first Christmas with Tip._ "Oooooh, what am I going to wear?" Tip asked, smile still threatening to split her face in two, as she rushed around in her room, throwing clothes over her shoulders as she went. "Something red, definitely, but _what?_ "

Oh chuckled fondly and slid out of the low bed himself. It was made especially for him, the height just perfect so he wouldn't require help to get in our out. "What about the dress for night?" he suggested, his gaze following Tip as she whirled around desperately.

Said girl froze in the middle of rummaging through a pile of clothes. When she turned to look at him, her eyes were wide and beaming, filled to the brim with love. It still surprised him that just a simple comment could make her react like that, but he guessed he would get used to it eventually. He really hoped so, or else she might very well give him a heart attack someday. "Oh. You are. A genius," she said slowly. "Now, where is it?" Ah, there she begun with her search again. The Boov captain rolled his eyes playfully and reached under the bed. Tip looked up sharply when he whistled, and her eyes widened again as he held up a knee long, red cotton dress. "Have I told you that I love you?" the grateful girl asked a bit later when she was fully dressed.

"Hmm… not since last night, you have not,"

"Not recent enough. I love you," she muttered, and pressed her lips to his head. She'd grown a bit since they first met, something that made their relationship a tad harder, but it worked. When Oh had voiced his concerns, Tip had rolled her eyes. 'Oh. If we managed to look past the fact that we're a different _species,_ I think we can look past height differences.'

Oh smiled softly at her as she tucked her arms into the sleeves of a short, white jacket for indoor use. "Looking good?" she asked and made a twirl on the floor. Oh swallowed as his skin took a small tint of pink. Tip noticed, and chuckled. "Dumb question,"

A little bit later, she'd put a white bow in her hair to keep it from falling in her face. Oh had very suddenly lost his sight for a few seconds as Tip threw a Santa hat in his face. She apologized, of course, but Oh couldn't take her seriously while she was giggling madly. He settled with growling playfully and pulling the hat over his head. Which, of course, only made Tip giggle a bit more.

When they finally were ready, about an hour after waking up, Tip all but ran into the living room. The whole house was decorated for Christmas, with small Santa's standing around, here and there, a snowman was present and in a corner, a large, majestic Christmas tree was stretching its branches towards the ceiling. A proud star was blinking at the very top and on every single branch, a Christmas ball or two hung, giving off its very own spark. Fastened in the top and flowing down in between the branches were thick, silver threads.

The whole room smelled of gingerbread and coffee and tea, and through the kitchen door an amazing smell indicated that the dinner would be just as delicious as last year. The whole room _smelled_ of Christmas, and the couple couldn't have asked for more.

Both Tip and Oh stopped dead in their tracks as they stepped into the room. "It's beautiful…" Tip breathed, though she wasn't sure whether it was directed at the three or the whole room in general. It was a tradition that the living room wouldn't be decorated until the night before Christmas, which was one of the reasons Tip had been so eager to wake up. Oh nodded slowly, speechless in an awed way. Lucy, Kyle and Smek were already present, as well as their cats. Tippy, Pigcat and Toh, the original cats in the house, had curled up in a heap on the couch, while Nanny and Pano were playing on the rug. At Tip's words, Kyle looked up. He smiled widely.

"Good morning, captain," he said teasingly.

Oh huffed, though it wasn't a lot of fight in it. "You know that I do not like you to call me that,"

Tip gasped again. "Oh! Oh, the stockings!" she cried, and the youngest Boov in the room snapped his gaze to where she was pointing, and then they both rushed forward. Two huge, homemade socks were hanging on the wall, both bulging with whatever they held inside. Tip took down both of them before anyone could blink, and then they dropped to the floor.

Each of them got a dark green bouncy ball –neither of them knew whether it was a coincidence or not-, a box of crayons and a matching bracelet, which was around the same color as the bouncy ball. But that was where the likeness stopped. Tip got a bar of milk chocolate and a bag of gummy bears, while Oh got a pack of lightbulbs and a smaller one with screws.

The next few hours passed in a kind of impatient daze. Tip and Oh snuggled a bit, they cuddled a bit, they tried to draw but they couldn't focus for too long so they gave up on that activity, they talked a bit with Kyle and Smek and played with the cats, but most of all, _they were bored with waiting_.

"I wonder how Ani is doing," Tip wondered at some time.

Lucy laughed from the couch, where she was reading a book. She put it down and gave the duo a playful, stern look. "Now, Tip, you know that Christmas is a time for family to be united and have fun,"

Kyle nodded. "Yeah, and I do not think I wish to know what the two of them are upping to," he muttered, shuddering. The people in the room laughed merrily at his words. He had been speechless for almost two weeks after he accidentally walked in on the Boov and her so-called 'friend'.

"It still amazes me how much her wish to return his feelings worked for her," Lucy said with a smile as she sipped her coffee. The two youngest in the room both nodded before sipping their hot chocolate.

"Love works in mysterious ways," Tip pointed out, smiling at Oh. He squeezed her hand happily and let more of his weight rest on her. She put an arm around his shoulders, and he breathed out, ready to just _be_ for a few seconds.

"Still," Smek pointed out, and Oh reluctantly opened his eyes again. "It is impossible,"

" _Supposed_ to be impossible," Kyle corrected. "She was very much pink," he said, again suppressing a shudder. Smek grinned.

"I won't bring up the fact that it's an interspecies relationship," Tip said. "I don't think I'm in the position to say anything," As laughter echoed through the room, Oh snuggled deeper into Tips embrace. It was a strange place to find comfort; a humansgirl? Who would ever have thought?  
 **  
**Time did not fly by. It was more liked it crawled. Crawled very slowly, mind you. Finally, – _finally_ \- Lucy declared dinner to be served. Oh's mouth dropped when he saw the table. It was decked for five; however, there was enough food for fifteen, at least! What met Tip's and Oh's eyes was like a paradise; potatoes; at least three different sauces; thick, white sausages merely for Christmas; peas; cooked carrots; broccoli: Christmas ribs; more potatoes; a mix between meatballs and hamburgers; ham- and the list could go on and on forever. Lucy had ran into a slight problem when it came to finding food for the other species supposed to join the two humans. After all, buying screws had gotten a bit old.

She had decided to take the chance, and had bought a few old paintings –cheap, of course-, two cans of motor oil and, after looking through eBay more than a few times, had gotten almost twelve LP records, which she'd placed upon the table along with –because she had no idea what else to have- some screws. The two visiting Boovs had brought some of their own food to make it a bit easier for Lucy.

Empty plastic bottles did apparently work as food.

"Well?" Lucy asked with a smile. "What are you waiting for? Tuck in!"

They did, all the while chatting with each other. Tip insisted on telling her Mymom, in between every chew, that the food tasted even better this year. The dinner, though no one could recall the exact conversations later, was filled with laughter and happy memories. Chocking on food because of laughing too much was a common happening, and after, their throats were sour because of all the laughing. Now and then Oh or Smek experimentally took a bite of the food Tip and Lucy were eating. Oh found that he was rather fond of potatoes, because 'the texture is so soft!', while Smek happily exclaimed that the ribs tasted wonderful.

Tip finished first, which, honestly, wasn't that much of a surprise. Oh followed quickly after, and a few 'kicked puppy look's later, they were free to run into the living room again.

The oldest of them happily fell to her knees in front of the tree, mindful of the small presents at the outskirts of the land of gifts. Oh didn't have to do such thing, as he could just walk. They began crawling –or in Oh's case, walking- around the great tree, inspecting the presents and sometimes piping up with "Found one for me!", or "Here is one for you, it is quite small," or an occasional "What on Earth is _this_ supposed to be!?"

It was an unwritten rule that they wouldn't touch the presents until the announcer was chosen _and_ present.

After the pair had checked to see if there was any presents hanging on the tree –it was- they ran to turn on some Christmas music. It didn't take as long time as they'd hoped, and Tip decided to play dirty. Or, as dirty as she could become. "Mooooom," she moaned. "Aren't you _done_ soon? The presents are looking so sad over there, waiting for someone to open them up!" Just around the corner, Oh struggled to contain his giggles.

"Fine, fine, alright, we're coming," Lucy laughed.

"I swear, you're torturing me more and more each year," Tip groaned, but her wide smile gave her away as she hurried to claim a chair, dragging Oh onto her lap. "I'm ready!" she called into the kitchen.

A bit later, when the three others had hurried inside of the living room, Lucy cleared her throat. "I hereby declare that I, Lady Lucy, will be this year's Announcer! Bow at my feet!" Tip giggled, before obliging, bowing her head slightly.

"Ready when you are, my lady," she answered. Lucy closed her eyes and fumbled a bit, before choosing a soft present from the pile under the tree.

"And the first present is to… Kyle, from Tip,"

Kyle shifted a bit, ready to catch the present when Lucy threw it at him. His shrill gasp could be heard all across the room as a soft cotton scarf fell out of the paper. Stars shone in his eyes. "You did not!" he shrieked at Tip, who smiled.

"You bet I did,"

"Oh my god. I will be forever grateful," he told her, giving a small bow. Everyone had been quite surprised when it turned out that Kyle was of perfect fanboy caliber. It took a while for him to discover just what he would fanboy _over_ , but he woke up when he spotted a Harry Potter book in a bookstore. Long story short, he'd been wanting a Hufflepuff scarf in a very, very long time.

Tip had simply taken the opportunity.

"The next present is… _also_ to Kyle, from Oh, this time,"

Kyle nearly fainted when he unwrapped a wand. The rest of the evening, he looked rather ridiculous, with his Hufflepuff scarf around his head and wand clutched tightly in hand, a stupid grin plastered across his face.

And then the time went by, Lucy picking out a present, sometimes meant for her, sometimes a Boov and sometimes Tip. The clock in the corner read nearly twelve in the night, but no one were ready to stop just yet, even though… "That was the last one!" Lucy exclaimed.

"Uh! The- the wait!" Oh said, stumbling forwards and falling face-first to the floor. All eyes turned to look at him, and his breath hitched nervously. "I have another gift for Tip," he declared, and Tip rolled her eyes fondly.

"Oh, you've already given me three things. What could be left?"

"Just-" he broke himself off, and chose to pet the floor in front of him. Tip obliged, sliding out of the chair and sitting down in front of him. He was acutely aware that three sets of eyes were pointed at him. Before he could change his mind he tried to shut them out, and instead he took out the present he had spared for last out of his pocket. He handed it to her.

Tip shot it an unsure look, but took it nonetheless. As she slowly unwrapped it, Oh found himself holding his breath. The girl in front of him let out a shaky gasp. "Oh, this- this is beautiful," she whispered. In her hands, she held a perfectly round medallion. It had the same spiraling pattern as the Boov pockets, though it was golden in color, same with the chain. He knew what she expected when she used her thumbnail to pop it open. Pictures, he was sure. Pictures of her, pictures of him, perhaps even a picture of them. But no.

On the inside, two polished gems smiled at her. It had taken time and a lot of concentration, but eventually, Oh had managed to find to gems with the exact right color.

One gem was yellow, and the other was blue. Tip gasped again, a smooth whisper, as she brushed her fingers over the letters engraved in the stone. _Ingabe uyoba, iyinyoni yami._

She was about to put it on, when Oh hurried to put a hand on her knee. "Wait," he said, his expression serious. "This is not simply a necklace," he told her gently. "This is equal to a ring for weddings,"

Tip blinked. Once, twice. "What," she asked, her voice flat.

"It is a wedding necklace, Tip."

"Are you- are you proposing? To me?" Tip asked, unbelievingly. Oh nodded meekly, his heart again pounding harshly in his chest. She gave a breathy laugh, completely ignoring her mother's hopeful expression and the two Boovs shocked faces. Oh didn't exactly get an answer, but the kiss that followed spoke more than the thousand words Tip couldn't choke out through her tears.

"Ahem," Lucy said, an amused expression flickering across her face.

"Sorry," they said in unison. Oh reached over, and after a short bit of fumbling, Tip found herself with a wedding necklace hanging around her neck. "What does it mean?"

"The engravings?"

"Yeah,"

"Will you be my songbird. It is Boov expression. Singing is –was- forbidden, so songbird is meaning "Will you do the incredible for me,"" he added when he saw her puzzled look.

"I never thought such a strange phasing would lead me into my happily ever after," she explained, soft smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.

Lucy Tucci had always been an observer. She was quite pleased about the fact that she often found herself standing on the sidelines, instead of participating in the actual game, the game of living. So, naturally, she wasn't surprised when she found herself sitting in an armchair, perfectly fine to just _observe_ the people in her living room.

Her heart warmed. The people in her living room- there were no other beings she would rather call her family.

The happiness and love in the room hung so heavy in the air, you could almost slice through it with a knife. It was so, so much better than last year. Lucy greyed at the memory, and not only because the Boov had chosen that moment to burst through the atmosphere. No, it was _Tip_. The poor girl had tried her very best to keep up a happy mask- Merlin, she'd even tried to be happy, too, just to make it easier for Lucy. It was the first Christmas after the accident, the first Christmas without the whole family gathered around the table, around the tree.

Lucy knew that it hadn't been easy for the young girl, it hadn't been easy for her, either, but for Tip…

Said girl's mother took a glance at the room, taking in the scenery. Oh and Smek chatting on the couch, their faces relaxed and at ease. Tip and Kyle sitting on the floor by the Christmas tree, Tips face flushed as she gestured wildly, pulling funny faces to go with whatever she was saying, causing Kyle to burst into laughter.

The happiness on her face wasn't fake. It wasn't a game of pretend, trying to please her mom. It was real, pure happiness, seeping from her as if she was some kind of lantern in the night.

So unlike the fake face she'd seen a year ago. Lucy remembered the sad look on her face when the girl thought she couldn't see it.

Well. All of that changed when she met a certain person.

She rose from her seat, stepped onto the field and cleared her throat before she had time to think it through. It didn't take long before silence filled the room. Lucy raised her glass in a sort of toast. "To love, even when it's found in the strangest of places," she declared, and tilted the glass upwards before bringing it to her lips.

She didn't say the silent part that followed after. _And to Oh, who saved my daughter when I thought it was too late._

Warmth poured into her heart and soul as the room echoed her words. _"To love, even when it's found in the strangest of places!"_

( _a/n: as you probably noticed, this is not how Christmas is done in America and the such. I've done this the way we do it in Norway -my country- or, in particular, the way we do it at 'home'. Just for your information; this is in the same universe as my Trust Me series, however it's placed some time after Heroes, Yet Again. Yep. I think that was all?_

 _A merry Christmas to you all, and if Christmas is not a thing you do, then have a good day! Or evening. Or night. Whatever._

 _For reading through this, I will award you with a rotten egg. You're welcome, no need to thank me.)_


End file.
